I created this recipe shortly after becoming vegan. I live south of Buffalo, NY and the combination of meat (mostly chicken) and hot sauce is a regional favorite. A late night craving prompted me to create this amazing dish. I think that the tempeh varieties with other grains and rice work better in this than the plain soy kind. I also use a hot sauce from Buffalo, but use any kind you like. This is also good with other dressing/marinades, such as Buffalo's "Chiavettas" or Binghamton's "speedie" sauces. Try using your town's regional sauces or marinade!
Slice tempeh at a slight angle into slices about 1/4 inch thick. basically you want them thin, but not too thin that they burn. Add a small amount of oil to a skillet and heat over medium-high. Add tempeh, cooking until one side is golden brown. Flip tempeh to other side (I find a fork works best for this) and cook until both sides are nicely browned.
Turn the heat off and drain any excess oil from the pan (with practice, you'll know how much to add in the beginning), leaving tempeh in the pan. With the HEAT OFF add your favorite hot sauce to the pan. CAUTION!!! stand back as you do this - the water in the hot sauce will cause the oil to spit at you. It's also best to do this in a well ventilated kitchen because the vinegar in most hot sauces will fill the air (but it's soooooo worth it, trust me). Add as much hot sauce as you want to make it as spicy or mild as you like.
I like to top mine with either a store-bought soy dill dressing or make my own. To make the dressing yourself, blend silken tofu, a little lemon juice (and/or soy milk ) to thin it out, and dried dill together in a blender until it's a ranch dressing consistency.
I wrap my Buffalo tempeh in a tortilla with some spinach, carrot shavings, caramelized onions and mushrooms, and the dill dressing. It's also great on top of a salad or on a sub roll.

SO HOW'D IT GO?

Wow! This was really good! ;)b I don't like fried food and I probably won't make this all the time, but when I do -- it is so yummy! I love tempeh, but the meat eaters in my house prefer meat, of course. This was a dish I could serve and they didn't mind. I am always trying to sneak in more non-meat meals and although not the most nutritious. Thanks for a great recipe!

I've been a lurker forever on vegweb. I decided to register and comment on your recipe, seeing that you are a fellow Buffalonian. ;D Tonight I was too tired to really cook, and we need to go grocery shopping as we're out of a lot of stuff. I had some tempeh, so I did a little searching and found this. Here's what I made with what I had, and it was a HUGE hit with my Mister and baby! Yes, 17 month old- she likes spicy foods! Indian especially.. It was very delicious, quick, and easy- and instantly bookmarked.

I cooked the tempeh as suggested and caramelized an onion. Since we were so low on groceries, I didn't have many other veggies to add but broccoli and spinach. I used this spicy chipotle sauce instead of hot sauce, because we didn't have any of that. I also added Braggs liquid aminos to the tempeh. It worked and was quite tasty! I steamed the broccoli instead of sauteing. For the dressing I mixed Vegenaise with dill, and then wrapped everything up in a whole wheat wrap. SO delicious.. Thanks for posting this simple and yummy recipe!